As If Quints Weren't Bad Enough
Mysterious Wreckage Positioned unexpectedly in the middle of nowhere, this is a field of broken equipment of a type so alien that one cannot even imagine what its purpose might have been. Bits and pieces of unknown technology are scattered far and wide. Some metal poles have been driven vertically into the ground at about the center of the wreckage, perhaps the remains of some structure or building. Everything else just forms a layer of rubble over the surface. A few pieces bear strange, faded markings in some undecipherable language. No A-Team hit the Decepticon solar collection station. For a mission like this, Repugnus searched the Autobot brigs for the absolute worst of their faction, the sort that would beat you as soon as look at you. The Monsterbot, however, has an odd affinity for such types, and after he established his authority--a few fingers got broken here and there--they took to his leadership readily. While not everyone in the strike team consists of such scum, many of them are. And here they are now, on the scorching dayside of Charr, amidst blinding light and the Decepticons' solar collectors. But it's cool--Repugnus had everyone wear sunglasses for this job. "Hey, bug," grunts one of the Autobot thugs, a hulking mech known as Punchface. "What about this one here?" He indicates a Decepticon guard cowering at his feet. Repugnus is remorseless as always. "Strip his armor off and let 'im bake," Repugnus says, and Punchface laughs as he pops out a knife. The gumbies that died defending the station are probably the lucky ones, here. Bell UH-1V Iroquois has sunglasses magnetically locked to front of his helicopter mode. Aviator sunglasses, naturally. Hovering above, he reports in, sounding a bit bored, << I have overwatch. Over.>> Yeah, air support blows, but someone has to keep a watch topside and make sure that Repugnus and his merry men aren't attacked from above. Besides, if reinforcements /do/ come by way of the sky, Blades can get his murder on, and that makes Blades a happy helicopter. One day, Grapple would get Blurr back for this. In the meantime, the architect stands waaaay in the back, a sour, miserable look on his face and donning... sunglasses. Does Repugnus even know he's there? He doesn't know. Only that Blurr decided to sign him up for every. Single. Mission. For the next short while. And he doesn't like it one bit. Well, at least he's armed. That's something, right? So here they are, attacking Charr based on Outbound's intel, despite initial suspicons. Well, not just initial. The goal now was to play the same trust game the Decepticon infantrymech was playing with them. They had to pretend they trusted him, at least this time around. But seriously, did Repugnus have to bring all these ugly thug-types who were probably those street-dwellers and circuit-speeder addicts that the speedster used to find utterly despicable back before the war. Blurr gives Punchface a disgusted look. Not so much for the good time he was having stripping that Decepticon of his outer armor, but probably more for his looks and brutish behavior before turning back to give Grapple a stern look. "Grapple! Look sharp soldier. Wouldn't want to get lost on this Primus-forsaken rock, now would you?" he warns, urging the architect to stop moping and lagging and all that. Missile Trailer lefts Charr's nightside a few minutes ago as he rolls at full speed towards the solar station. It's sheer luck that the combaticon commander happens to be on Charr to help increase the security level after Archaeonix's attack. He requests reinforcement via DHQ as he arrives near his destination. Hopefully the empire will send its brightest and mightiest warriors. As he rolls, Onslaught can't help but wonder what the Autobots are trying to achieve here. Charr is not nearly as important as it used to be but no matter what, he won't let the Decepticons fall back base being compromised. Sunbeam lifts his sunglasses up and lowers that reflective silvery thingamajig that sunbathers use to... do whatever it is that thing is supposed to do. The Nebulon is in a lawn chair, soaking up the rays next to one of the massive mirror-like solar power panels. Since this is how he recharges, technically he's doing his job. The reason Sunbeam woke up from his na- I mean hard work is because there's suddenly Autobots charging towards the station. "Uh." he says, slowly reaching for his comlink. Switching it on, he hears all sorts of chatter about 'renegade Autobots' and 'invasion' and 'why do they all have knives'. Without hesitation, Sunbeam hurries himself under one of the panels, using it for cover. Meanwhile, just above Onslaught, an F-16 can be seen flying overhead. "Geez, they knew exactly when and where to hit us, Onslaught. This isn't going to be pretty, y'know," Needlenose complains. Zigzag is under one wing, but he'll have to go snag Sunbeam once they get there. "So does this place actually have any defence or is it just us?" What do you need for repairs? Well.. a lot of things really but the one that is important to this post is fuel! And who do you call when fuel is a matter of importance? Octane! Cowering beneath a hulk of scrap and debris, the triplechanger had seen it all, sweet primus he had seen it all. The brutality, the destruction, he watched as the grun't armor was stripped, internals left to fry in the intense sunlight, circuits sizzling and fry. He might have spent a bit of oil involuntarily. "Primus, primus, primus, primus...." he chattered to himself, belly to the dirt, peering out through a gap in his shelter. Hoping, praying that a army would arrive, a crack team of the Decepticon's most brutal, most vicious. Three combiner teams, Megatron back from the dead. Sweet Primus, save his afty! Screams of pure agony sound out across the landscape as Punchface gets to work. Repugnus walks away calmly, hands behind his back as he looks across the hellscape. "Hmmm. Well, boys! Let's get to work! Tear this whole place up." With a raucous whoop, his thugs get to work, some of them transforming and tearing across the station, slamming into the solar collectors, others staying in robot mode to shoot and bludgeon the collectors instead. A chaotic mess--just the way the Monsterbot likes it. Repugnus grins evilly as he watches, but then he notices Grapple just standing there glumly. "YO. Constructor guy. DEconstruct. Didn't bring you out here for sight-seeing." As this is going on, one of the thug-bots careens unknowingly towards Sunbeam, carelessly crushing his lawn chair in the process. Will the Nebulan get hit!?! Combat: Bug Creature sets his defense level to Guarded. The creature spins and twists about into Repugnus's robot mode! Combat: Repugnus misses F-16XL Jet Fighter with his WOOPS MY BAD (Punch) attack! Grapple gives Blurr a deep, dark glare. He opens his mouth to say something, only for Repugnus to call on him to destroy things. For a moment, he actually looks insulted. Still, he doesn't actually move, sputtering as he seems to fail to form some sort of response. It takes a good, long moment. "...This does not seem the least bit necessary!" Looks like he's refusing. Or hesitating. But probably the former. Blades says, "Incoming. One bogey in the air, coming in hot, one by land. Request permission to break away from overwatch to engage." Repugnus says, "Do it! Do it do it do it! Roger tango bravo!" Bell UH-1V Iroquois think that Repugnus makes a pretty good boss, what with giving him permission to break away from overwatch to go shoot people. Not as hyper as Hot Spot, of course, but no one is. He targets the missile truck, because they... have a history. Hello, Onslaught. Wake up and smell the armour-fragmenting rockets. Combat: Bell UH-1V Iroquois sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Bell UH-1V Iroquois strikes Missile Trailer with his Armor-Piercing Smart Rocket attack! -2 Blurr glares right back at Grapple. "You heard the mech," he says, gesturing toward the solar panels. "Get to work already, or are you planning on disobeying a direct order from a superior officer?" But he doesn't tarry long in reinforcing Repugnus' orders with Grapple, and as soon as he is done speaking, he races off ahead to scout out the enemy, attempting to flank them and nail each of them with a quick blast to the side as he does so. Yes, he's that fast. WOOSH! Opening up a commlink, he reports to the ranking Autobot. <> Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Blurr strikes Missile Trailer with his Quickdraw Area attack! -1 Combat: Blurr strikes Octane with his Quickdraw Area attack! -1 Combat: Blurr strikes F-16XL Jet Fighter with his Quickdraw Area attack! -1 "All the Decepticons stationed here were killed when Archaeonix attacked so it's just us. I should have expected this attack" he doesn't explain why, "They probably want to cut DHQ'S energy supply, thinking we're too weakened to stop them. Let's show them how wrong they are." A few moments later, he arrives in sight of the solar station just in time to see the Autobots starting to wreck the place. With a classical transformation sound, he switches into his robot mode, rifle in hand. His transformation is barely completed that he gets stuck by Blades' rocket. "Needlenose! I said I want them grounded!". Ignoring the Protectobot, he goes straight for the head of this operation and fires his weapon at Repugnus. From his previous mode, Onslaught unfolds into his robot mode. Combat: Onslaught strikes Repugnus with his Laser attack! Sunbeam peaks out from behind the solar collector in time to see a massive dark maroon truck with an Autobot insignia on the grill blazing towards him. Turning, he sprints away in time to escape the fate that the collector (and his lawn chair) suffer from. The collector is crushed outright, with metal twisting and being torn off. Bits of shrapnel fly after Sunbeam as he runs away. This running is done in slow motion, but as the scene is a pure sausage fest, his powers are useless. Needlenose meanwhile receives orders to kill the air support, and so he immediately begins scanning the horizon for any Autobot fliers. "Alright I see the air support," he says, spying a smart missile streaking for the Combaticon Commande.r "Leave him to me, Onslaught." Before Needlenose can properly get set up, Blurr sprays laser bolts in his direction. One of them clips his wings, forcing the Con to revert into robot mode, Zigzag in hand. "Someone kill Blurr! I've got to deal with..." optics narrow, "My good buddy 'Razor'. Hey! Razor! How 'bout you and I make a deal: I won't blind your sorry ass if you don't blind mine?" To demonstrate his good faith, he blasts Blades with a lightning bolt from his electro-static discharger. More Than Meets The Eye! F-16XL Jet Fighter transforms into robot mode! Combat: Needlenose misses Bell UH-1V Iroquois with his Lightning Bolt (Laser) attack! The hulking mound of scrap and rubble clatters and rattles due to Octane's horrified, terror tremors. This is clearly what give him away to Blurr because no sooner does the meth-bot go zipping around the battlefield does Octane feel a laser blast lance into his aft plating. "YeOOW!" yelps the triplechanger as he rockets to his feet, his camoflage and sanctuary falling aweay in a terrible clamour. He seethes with pain and anger, one hand clutching the scortch mark that has been lanced across his bumper. "What kind of degenerate just goes and shoots-!" he begins a tirade only to look around himself surrounded by the Autobot's rowdy rough bunch. Facepunch Punchface, Holepunch Punchhole, Renegade, Rambotron, Knuckleduster, Kickface, and the worst of them all... Grapple! His bellows cut of midsentence as he peers left and right, jaw agape, features aghast... Reaching behind his back, he whips out a gleaming, chrome riot shield and screams, "SAVE ME, DEFLECTO SHIELD!!" Combat: Octane creates a forcefield shielding himself from damage. Grapple grumbles and holds his ground for all of... Three seconds. Then, he drags his feet, and moves towards the solar panels. The irony of being called on to steal solar panels from Decepticons is not lost on him, it's just a great deal better than taking apart actual Decepticons. Like the numerous aptly-named grunts were doing. He just sort of... avoids looking at that part. Hey, he might even be ignored, right? ...Right? Anger flashes across Repugnus's face. "Don't be a fragging wuss, Grapple! Get to work or..." He nearly spits out a vicious threat. It would've worked on one of the thugs. "...be very disappointed in you!" He snarls as he turns away, and as he does he receives Blurr's report. <> Onslaught's laser scores a deep gouge in his armor, the metal boiling away, sending off little particles that twinkle in the brilliant sunlight. The two Cybertronians are a stark contrast, made obvious by the Autobot hooligans driving and running around randomly destroying everything, and Repugnus revels in it. "Come on, Onslaught! Come at me! You think you're such a great planner, but I live to BREAK plans!" He laughs as he runs towards Onslaught, firing his Venom Laser at him. "Chaos! Chaos is the natural state of things, not order! Chaos is my GIFT to you! Hahahaha!" Bell UH-1V Iroquois replies cheerily, "Different deal: if you blind me, I'll pry out your optics!" Needlenose totally whomped him last time. The Protectobot knows he is outclassed. However, he'll fight Needlenose, anyway, and gladly so, because it will buy time for the others, and also... because Blades will personally enjoy it. Image disorted by the severe rays of the sun, Blades banks, and the electro-blast crackles by him. He launches another armour-piercing missile, sending it seeking after Needlenose. Combat: Bell UH-1V Iroquois strikes Needlenose with his Armor-Piercing Smart Rocket attack! -1 Combat: Repugnus sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Repugnus strikes Onslaught with his Laser attack! Wheelie covers his pristine optics! <> Blurr answers over the comm, his sights on Octane, who had been hiding in the rubble like a coward he no doubt is. And, as suspected, he erects a shield instead of attacking. The speedster laughs. That Decepticon looks pathetically terrified. "That shield isn't going to protect you forever, Octane! Why don't you come out and fight? Make Galvatron proud, huh?" he taunts. "In the meantime, I guess I'll just have to go after your friends." The speedster then aims his blaster skyward toward Needlenose as he is busy with Blades, attempting to knock him out of the air. Combat: Blurr strikes Needlenose with his Pewpewpew (Laser) attack! Onslaught doesn't wait for Repugnus, he charges him as the monsterbot run towards him. The venom laser scores a hit on his left shoulder but despite the sad state of his armor it doesn't do much more than making a small hole in it. "You talk like one of those dumb Dinobots. Chaos is why you will always loose!". As he arrives within an arm reach of Repugnus, the combaticon commander joins his hand together and swings both arms towards the Autobot's face, "I bring you ORDER!" Combat: Onslaught strikes Repugnus with his Hard Education attack! "Better mechs than you have tried, you Whirl reject!" Needlenose retorts. Zigzag missed, but that's basically the most expected thing in the world so it isn't all that important to note. "Sorry, his image was distorted by the severe rays of the sun," Zigzag says, but Needlenose just snorts and rolls his eyes. Then he sees another missile coming his way, and Needlenose groans, "Ah crapo-" KA-BOOM! Needlenose flies downwards, smashing through several more solar panels and skidding along the harsh Charr terrain. The paint on his butt is going to be all scuffed up now. Sitting upright in the rubble, Needlenose hears a muffled sound. "Huh?" He fumbles around in the rubble before fishing out a certain Light Burst Discharger. "Sunbeam!" he says gleefully. Before he can celebrate for long, though, Blurr is already on him, firing more laser bolts at him. "I'm pinned down, Onslaught! Save us, save us!" Still, Needlenose knows full well that the Combaticon has his own hands full, and since Octane is as gutless as he is useless, no help will be coming from there either. And so, Needlenose bursts up into the sky, Sunbeam and Zigzag plugged together as massive light waves fly back towards both Autobots. Sunbeam's been soaking up the rays for the past day now, and now he can let it all hang loose. Combat: Needlenose strikes Bell UH-1V Iroquois with his No I Never Said Anything About No Blind Attacks Why Do You Ask Area attack! Combat: Needlenose uses up a charge on his Double Targetmaster booster pack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Bell UH-1V Iroquois 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Needlenose misses Blurr with his No I Never Said Anything About No Blind Attacks Why Do You Ask Area attack! Combat: Needlenose (Needlenose) used "Light Burst Discharger": A Level 3 AREA-RANGED attack. No one understands, understands the glory, the magnificense that is Octane. Someday they will. He'll show them. He'll show them all! For now however, he'll have to not die horribly. With his shield fastened tightly to his arm and the air around him shimmering with the tell-tale gleam of a forcefield, Octane manages to muster something close to courage and pulls out his carbine blaster. "Stupid Onslaught, Stupid Backfire." mutters the fueler as he twists and adjusts the dial on the weapon's control consol. What makes Onslaught so good anyway?! When was the last time he even formed Devastator. It's not like he's better than Octane, he;s not some kind of... Mega-Octane! That would just be dumb! Anger bubbles to the surface as he hefts his rifle and whipps it towards Blurr, the little crack-bot zipping around like a kid after his first espresso. Zzap! Zzap! Zzap! His shots go wide, Octane's teeth grind hard enough to spark "Rrrrragh!" he snarls before he starts leading his shots a few yards ahead, popping off laser volleys into the debris in Blurr's path, causing it to explode in showeres of scrap and shrapnel. Scrapnel, if you will. Combat: Octane misses Blurr with his Scrapnel (Pistol) attack! Combat: Octane (Octane) used "Pistol": A Level 1 RANGED attack. First they went and destroyed the space bridge here on Charr. Mildly irritated. Second, Repugnus leads a team of Autobots here to throw a proverbial wrench into the machine. Temper growing. Finally, they go and make enough noise as to disturb the Insecticon behemoth while he was here trying to find some peace and quiet. "Of all tha fried circuits in tha systam, what the HELL is goin' on here??" Juggernaut roars aloud, transforming from his pill-bug mode and standing atop a pile of scrap metal. Repugnus takes both fists right across the cheek, spitting out a tooth and whirling around briefly from the impact. "Nff! Don't make me laugh. You 'cons idea of order is to follow the whims of a lunatic! But then again, who am I to talk!? I just wish EVERYBODY was as crazy as me!" His face turns delirious as he tries to grab onto one of Onslaught's hands. "o/~Crazy enough to have fingers for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!o/~" he singsongs as he tries to either pull the hand down to his mouth or himself close enough to bite down on the fingers. He'll bite them clean off if he can! Meanwhile, one of the thug-bots, T-Boned, looks ruefully at the fingers on his left hand, some of which were mangled during Repugnus's "recruitment drive." "Man," he grunts, "What's with that guy and fingers?" The brute shrugs, kicking over another solar collector. It briefly spurts out a bit of energon, which T-Boned stoops over to drink from like a faucet, but the sun's rays hit it and it sizzles harshly, stinging his face. "Ow, damn!" he says, yanking his head away. Combat: Repugnus sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Repugnus strikes Onslaught with his Nom Nom Your Fingers attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Onslaught's Agility. (Crippled) Somehow or another, Grapple is actually managing to stay out of the way. Not only that, but he's actually gathered a few of the solar panels. Solar panels that haven't been smashed or cracked! Will wonders never cease?! Though, he is still one very unhappy architect. An architect cringing at some of the sounds coming from the actual fighting. Also Repugnus's crazy singing. Actually, ESPECIALLY Repugnus's singing. Oh, but look there, one of the previously vivisected Decepticons frying in the sun. A foot is used to sort of... Nudge the frying near-corpse away. Ew. And just to happens to nudge it in a shady spot under a uselessly cracked solar panel. Repugnus says, "...eh, you hear that? Sounds like we got an infestation that isn't me for once." Bell UH-1V Iroquois made a very simple deal with Needlenose: Blind Blades, and Blades rips out Needlenose's optics. Needlenose blinded Blades, letting searing hot photons rip through Blades and fill him with light, immolating him like an effigy. This means that Needlenose clearly wants to be blinded! Never let it be said that Blades is not a helpful, giving Autobot. Blades transforms, aviator-sunglasses auto-transforming with him. He flings out his arms to free-fall, /grins/, and calls out, "/Whirl/ would just shoot you. While flying. Crazily. That's what Whirl does. You would be /lucky/ to have Whirl here." When he foggily sees the ground and the rubble approaching, he pulls a blade off his back and tries to lance it right through his foe's optical socket. Bell UH-1V Iroquois transforms into his Blades mode. Combat: Blades sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Blades misses Needlenose with his Eye Scream attack! The massive photon rays lance through the air (well, whatever air there actually IS on Charr), but Blurr is too good for that! He ducks, dodges, and somersaults, avoiding the blasts easily. "Ha! You're gonna have to do better than that, Decepticon!" And then Octane tries to send shrapnel flying into his face by shooting piles of debris in front of him. This, too he evades by quickly changing course, strafing left and then veering off in a different direction. "Is this seriously the best you 'Cons can do? And I was hoping for some real competition." And so he goes for the one 'Con they'd actually recognized as sort of competent, the one fighting Repugnus, attempting to shoot him from behind. Combat: Blurr strikes Onslaught with his Quickdraw attack! Onslaught grunts at he hears Needlenose's call for help, "I gave you ONE simple task!" he shouts back, "Can't you do anything right?". Then he attempts to free his hand as Repugnus grabs his arm but before he manages to free it, the monsterbot takes a good bite, severing two of his fingers. The combaticon commander screams in pain before bringing his wounded hand back to his chest. "You maniac. I'll put you don't like a rabid turbofox and even Prime will thank me for it!". With his free hand, Onslaught pushes his rifle right into Repugnus' face and doesn't waste a second before pulling the trigger. At the very same time, he's shot in the back and falls forwards onto the monsterbot. Combat: Onslaught sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Onslaught strikes Repugnus with his Sonic Stun Gun attack! Building up momentum, Juggernaut charges from the mound toward Grapple. "UNHAND OUR WARES, PILFERER!!" he bellows, stepping on the skull of the fried Decepticon corpse with a *CRUNCH*.. his other foot cracking through one of the solar panels. Lowering his shoulder, the Insecticon bully flings himself into the Hauler knock-off in an attempt to smash him good.. And drop the goods, Juggernaut is all about recycling energy and stuff. Combat: Juggernaut sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Juggernaut strikes Grapple with his SHOAL-DAR! (Punch) attack! Zzap, Zzap, Zzap! Octane glowers as Blurr dances around every single blast of debris that he manages to kick up. He can't even fire as rapidly as he'd like! Having to watch his gauge, lest he end up like last time... but still, that insufferable accelerant addict aggitates him so... He fiddles with a dial on his gun once more, cranking it here and there before he attaches a hose that suddenly protrudes from his arm into a socket on the gun's butt. With a twist, a chemical concoction fills the guns resevior. Charr's hostile enviornment, one that would be peeling his paint even now were it not for his DEFLECTO SHIELD, will aid him in these endevors! Lofting up and into the air, Octane takes keen aim, sighting and leading carefull, blithely ignoring his surroundings as he lines up his shot. With a pull of the trigger, a slick, caustic stream of fluids leap from the rifle's barrel, jetting towards Blurr and trying to douse him in the cocktail of chemistry. On target or not, the fluids will shortly ignite in a sudden blaze thanks to Charr's hostile sun. Combat: Octane sets his defense level to Fearless. Needlenose knows what's going to happen. EVERYBODY knows what's going to happen. The moment he, Sunbeam, and technically also Zigzag pop off a light burst at the Protectobot, they all know what's going to go down. Blades made it clear. Real clear. And so immediately after scoring a hit, Needlenose breaks into a sprint, running away from Blades as fast as he can. As his legs pump furiously, he struggles not to scream like a little girl. A) screaming like a little girl is absolutely terrible for your rep in the Decepticon army, and B) Blades's optics are no doubt overloaded, and screaming like a little girl is just going to alert the Protectobot to where he is. Finally, after managing to stay one step ahead of the red and white berserker, Needlenose pops off into the sky where Blades can't reach him. "Ha ha! Too slow, 'Razor'!" Suddenly Needlenose is all grins and giggles out of relief. "You know, I shoulda figured out who you really were a long time ago. Only an Autobot would get beat down like a /bitch/ so fast. Honestly I barely even broke a sweat." Hoping that Blades is still too blinded to accurately find him, Needlenose tries to be stricky to help out Onslaught by firing a burst from his double rifle towards the Monsterbot. "Ha ha, I was just kidding, Onslaught. Lemme make it up to you, eh?" Combat: Needlenose sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Needlenose strikes Repugnus with his Light Blast (Laser) attack! Combat: Octane misses Blurr with his Flamethrower attack! Combat: Octane (Octane) used "Flamethrower": A Level 3 AREA-RANGED attack. This...is not exactly an officially sanctioned Autobot mission. That's not the part that bothers Grimlock. What does? It's the fact that he WASN'T INVITED. And so, hot on the trail of the shuttle Repugnus has commandeered (read: stolen), Grimlock soars onto the scene courtesy of a small, one-robot shuttlecraft (a cramped one, too)! Grimlock sweeps down some distance from the fray and bails out, stretching his joints as he takes to the air under his own power! Seeing laser fire and explosions in the distance, Grimlock veers to check it out. "Hnnn. Me Grimlock hope there some bad guys left to punch!" And things were going so well! Grapple had been staying out of harms' way, was still mostly in line with his own conscious, and he had actually been productive! It had, briefly, been a moment that the architect might have actually been almost pleased with, blazing-hot-sun-and-horrid-planet besides. But then Juggernaut had to barrel right in to him. "Aagh!" That was a little too high pitched. He gets his arms in front, intending, at first, to just hit the Decepticon, but then he remembers what Blurr had said. He had weapons! ..In his arms. Installed. That he didn't actually know was there. Does he know how to get them to work? More importantly, can he AIM? Combat: Grapple strikes Juggernaut with his Wrist Socket Rocket attack! Blades blindly chases Needlenose around, after freefalling and trying to skewer him in an awesome way that was doomed to anticlimatic failure, but Needlenose is just too fast! Also, there aren't enough little girl screams for Blades to track. However, eventually, behind his aviator sunglasses, his optics reset, and the world again has clarity. Blades takes a moment, stretching and adjusting his grip. Then he grins again and calls out, "I painted Darkmount atrium with your fuel! AND THAT WAS THE BEST PIECE OF ART YOU HAVE EVER MADE, YOU HACK." Blades take a running leap to try to close the distance and, well, hack the hack. Combat: Blades strikes Needlenose with his Hack the Hack attack! -4 Repugnus's face is blasted into utter ruin from the sonic blast, the skin seeming to leap right off, and his sunglasses shattering to pieces. Even his optics brief crack dangerously. But the Monsterbot doesn't react to pain like a normal person might, and while he reels from the blow he merely cackles in delight. "HAHAHA! Oh, I don't doubt that you're right about Prime, Onsy!" And as Onslaught falls onto him, he takes another shot from behind from Needlenose! "Ungh!" But it only damages his weapon power cells slightly, and Repugnus isn't about shooting people anyway. This is especially evident as Onslaught collapses onto him, and the Monsterbot transforms on the ground. "Oh, Onslaught! But the others will see! Hahahaha!" And the disgusting bug creature tries to bite at Onslaught's faceplate and neck! And what's this? A new challenger? "Sorry, Grimlock, but this mission was for cool Autobots only!" And "cool" Autobots apparently means the hooligans fresh out of the brig, driving around and shooting everying while whooping like maniacs. Repugnus twists and flips around into his horrific creature mode! Combat: Bug Creature strikes Onslaught with his Chomp attack! -2 "Except for Grapple!" Repugnus quickly adds. If Blurr weren't so busy evading Octane, he would've smirked at Grapple. See? He had been right! The architect can fight! In fact, he just hit that Insecticon with one of those missiles he hadn't even been aware he actually had before the speedster told him so. He will have some words for Grapple after this, but for now he is busy with Octane. Speaking of which, the Decepticon fuel tanker's chemical flamethrowers are jetting toward him just as he's gotten off that shot to Onslaught's back. Again, he evades damage, jumping to the side and transforming into his hovercar form. This time he's got something bigger in store for Octane, though...speeding up, Blurr easily breaks the sound barrier, directing a sonic boom straight at the cowardly Decepticon in an attempt to quickly deplete his shields. Combat: Blurr sets his defense level to Aggressive. In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar strikes Octane with his Sonic Boom attack! Combat: Octane's forcefield absorbs Cybertronian Hovercar 's attack. Onslaught's face is bitten by the monsterbot, "LEAVE ME ALONE YOU NUTJOB!". The combaticon punches Repugnus but is unable to force him to release his grip. After a moment, he changes his tactic and transforms into his missile trailer truck, forcing Repugnus to release him. Not losing anytime, Onslaught starts his engines and attempts to crush the autobots under his wheels. From his previous mode, Onslaught transforms into his missiles trailer mode. Combat: Missile Trailer strikes Bug Creature with his I don't break for Autobots. (Smash) attack! Shifting, contorting, and expanding; parts allign into Juggernaut's.. Gigantic Robotic Pillbug mode!! What trickery is this? Is that really a Cute Tiny Robotic Pillbug?? Robotic Pill-bug parts shift, condense, and fold away to reveal.. THE JUGGERNAUT!!! Needlenose grins as Repugnus gets hit. He can't tell how hurt the Monsterbot is from just the grunt but he's willing to bet that it was a good one. Sadly, this distraction means that Blades, regardless of his weakened optics, is able to charge in and leap for him. "Ulp!" Needlenose tries to jerk his leg up, but the Protectobot's leap is a good one (low gravity helps) and hack at his foot. The rotor digs deep, ripping through the armour as if it were nothing. Worse, the blade gets caught and so when Blades falls back down to the Charr surface, so too does Needlenose. "Argh! Blast you, Blades! I should I finished you off when I had the chance. My only regret is that we don't have the audience we did last time!" Both Needlenose and Blades smash into the dirt, with the former's Targetmaster partners going flying out of his hands. Sunbeam and Zigzag split apart in mid-air, transforming so they land on their feet. That doesn't help Needlenose, though, who's currently on the ground wrestling with Blades in a messy, ugly fight. Awkwardly, Needlenose throws a fist at Blades. "Yeah!? Well this time I'll can paint the /ground/ with your /aft/!" Combat: Needlenose strikes Blades with his Punch attack! Combat: Juggernaut damages himself. Smiling when the shoulder lands true, Juggernaut is seemingly unprepared for what soon follows. The wrist launcher rocket lances out and makes contact with his abdomen, quickly making the Insecticon stumble backward; slapping a free-hand onto the wound out of instinct. "You.. insufferable trashbot!" he scowls, energon seeping inbetween his fingers. Parts shift and rotate, allocating even more of his bug-mode onto his already bulky arms; Juggernaut stalks forward akin to Zangief setting up his running powerbomb. The arms immediately seize out and attempt to contain Grapple, to carefully and slowly squeeze the very life essence from his core. "Scream for me." he intones, grinning. Combat: Juggernaut strikes Grapple with his Hug of Kill Everything attack! Repugnus says, "HOKE" "RRrrrrgh!" grates Octane, having succeded in making this joint that much more of a flaming afthole of a planet but not making Blurr a flaming afthole! He only needed to add the fire, HOW HARD WAS THAT FLAMETHROWER, YOU HAD ONE JOB! Angrily, Octane disconnects the feed hose, allowing it to retact into a cocket and disappear behind a sliding plate. All in time for Blurr to whip by, debris, scrap, and dead Decepticons billowing up in his wake like dust in the wind. "Augh!" They bounce and careen off of Octane, all deflected away harmlessly by his Delfecto Shield! Magnificent little bit of science that it was. Still, that along with his little bit of tom foolery had cost him, with his fuel gauge dipping into the yellow. Grousing, Octane descinds into the wreckage, rooting about until he finds himself a battery meant for collecting the solar energy. With a smile, he quickly hooks in, replenishing some of his spent energon! Combat: Octane sets his defense level to Guarded. Combat: Octane takes extra time to steady himself. Pass "Hey! Me Grimlock cool! Me Grimlock am COOLEST AUTOBOT!" He growls, and storms forwards! But, before he can get close to where Onslaught and Repugnus are beating on each other, he happens to pass by Juggernaut and Grapple- and, with a dismissive grunt, the dinobot reaches down in an attempt to gake hold of Juggernaut and haul him off the architect! "Totally cooler than this guy!" Whether he's talking about Grapple or Juggernaut remains uncertain. This doesn't stop Grimlock from trying to haul off and throw the insecticon in a random direction anyway! There's a flurry of moving parts, and Grimlock changes to his robot mode! Combat: Grimlock strikes Juggernaut with his Throwed! (Grab) attack! For the most part, Juggernaut's request is fulfilled. Grapple does yell as he's grabbed, and it's high pitched and completely unflattering. What do you expect? He's an architect, not, you know, a real tried-and-true soldier. He struggles for a moment, sees Grimlock over his attackers' shoulder, almost -- ALMOST -- lets out a smile at the idea of help... and then Grimlock grabs the Decepticon and throws him. ...And takes Grapple along for the ride. "AAAAAAHHH!" Blades gets a fist in his face that cracks his aviator shades and caves in one of his optics. If only someone could... recalibrate... his sensors. The Protectobot hisses out and then says, "Hmm. That was a pretty good punch... maybe I should take your hand and keep it." His blade twists out, flashing in the harsh light, ready to unhand Needlenose. Combat: Blades sets his defense level to Aggressive. Bug Creature is crushed under Onslaught's wheels, sure enough--his ugly features are made that much uglier as they're crumpled by the heavy missile truck. The real damage, of course, is internal, which clearly shows as Repugnus struggles back up to his feet. "Hnnnnh. Ouch. What, you don't like me, Onslaught? Now I'm all offended! I always thought we had a SPARK between us!" And Repugnus tries to prove that there is indeed such a spark--by spraying sparks at Onslaught and most of the other Decepticons! And maybe Blades, too! Meanwhile, the Thuggobots (as Repugnus will start calling them) have trashed the majority of the solar collectors. They seem to be winding down at this point, getting a bit bored, until--"STOP SLACKING OFF!" Repugnus snaps, and there they go, ripping and roaring all over again! Combat: Blades misses Needlenose with his Snicker Snakt attack! -3 Combat: Bug Creature strikes Missile Trailer with his Spitting Sparks Area attack! -2 Combat: Bug Creature strikes Octane with his Spitting Sparks Area attack! -2 Combat: Octane's forcefield absorbs Bug Creature 's attack. Combat: Bug Creature strikes Needlenose with his Spitting Sparks Area attack! -2 Combat: Bug Creature strikes Blades with his Spitting Sparks Area attack! -2 Blades says, "Repugnus. Sir. I am going to full your office with burning shrapnel. But only because I know you'll enjoy it." Repugnus says, "Hahaha! Just don't open the closet I hung my hat on! Not saying why!" Repugnus mentally makes a note to swap the nameplates on his door and Jazz's. Octane is being terribly pathetic. He hasn't even managed to land a single blow on Blurr. In fact, no one has. "Come on, Octane! I'm getting really bored of you! You haven't even managed to land a single hit on me. Slag, I haven't even really hit you yet since you're hiding behind that shield, and you're already going back to hiding? Pathetic!" And since he's bored with Octane, he zooms off all over the battlefield, attempting to punch everyone at once! Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar sets his defense level to Guarded. The hovercar quickly unfolds upward and outward to reveal the fastest terrestrial Cybertronian in the galaxy, Blurr! Combat: Blurr strikes Juggernaut with his A Thousand Punches Area attack! Combat: Blurr strikes Missile Trailer with his A Thousand Punches Area attack! Combat: Blurr misses Octane with his A Thousand Punches Area attack! Combat: Blurr strikes Needlenose with his A Thousand Punches Area attack! Missile Trailer is showered by sparks that burns into his armor but otherwise do little damage and then he's struck by a blurr, which add to the damage. He quickly evaluates the situation and notices Grimlock's arrival. Things are not going good for the Decepticons and Onslaught determines that the station is probably lost. Time for plan B. The missile trailer truck expands as it transforms into a large battlestation. "Time to unleash hell." He says as missiles fly off the launcher, raising high into the sky before coming down on everyone like the heralds of apocalypse. From his previous mode, Onslaught transforms into his battlestation mode. Combat: Battlestation strikes Grimlock with his Photon Missiles Area attack! Combat: Battlestation strikes Bug Creature with his Photon Missiles Area attack! Combat: Battlestation misses Blurr with his Photon Missiles Area attack! Combat: Battlestation (Onslaught) used "Photon Missiles": A Level 6 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: Battlestation strikes Needlenose with his Photon Missiles Area attack! Combat: Battlestation strikes Blades with his Photon Missiles Area attack! Hefted up in Grimlock's large hands, not as large as Torque's though, Juggernaut is pitched away from the battle. Keeping his iron grip on the architect, the Insecticon lands in a pile of rubble and continues to roll down the hill.. picking up momentum along the way. Coming to a stop, the Insecticon releases the hold and transforms, Blurr's fist bouncing almost harmlessly off his hide. Transforming, Juggernaut's wittle cute pill-bug face grins.. then starts to try and devour Grapple's foot, with his tiny little teeth. Shifting, contorting, and expanding; parts allign into Juggernaut's.. Gigantic Robotic Pillbug mode!! Combat: Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug strikes Grapple with his Architect Artichokes! attack! Fusillade leans forward, wingblades whipping out to their full span, even as her arms lock backward in place as the rear fuselage. Her torso folds out to the become the cockpit of a Terran B-1B Lancer, ready for flight! Some considerable time after the initial attack, Fusillade arrives, not by shuttle, but under her own power. The bomber scorches over the contested field, taking in the current situation. Space Going B-1R Lancer says, "Onslaught I hope you left some for me!" Needlenose isn't skilled at wrestling on the ground like this, but he's seen enough ladies doing it that he's got the general gist of it down. After cracking his knuckles against Blades's face with his right fist, he tries awkwardly to keep Blades's sword arm away from stabbing him, pushing at it even as the pair roll around on the ground. Whether it's a fluke or not, in all the rolling around Needlenose winds up on top. "Maybe I should shove my hand down your /throat/!" Needlenose shouts back. He grabs Blades's neck with one hand while readying to deck Blades with the other, but then everything goes very badly. Though able to fend off Blades, Needlenose hasn't a chance to also protect himself from also Blurr, Repugnus, AND Onslaught! The sparks from Repugnus glance off his back, but Needlenose keeps throttling Blades despite the burning sensation. Then Blurr runs up and punches him in the back of the head, knocking Needlenose off Blades and onto the ground. "Oof! What in the world just... hit..." Laying on his back, Needlenose looks up. His optics suddenly go wide as he sees a stream of missiles coming down from the heavens. "Oh. Oh Primus no..." There's the sound of transformation, but it's drowned out by the sound of the photon missiles leveling the entire area. An F-16 can be seen streaking out of the inferno, tail fins and rudder on fire. The flames from the F-16's afterburners are lost in the blaze that is the entire rear section. As his engine starts to fail from the sheer vertical climb, Needlenose has no choice but to level off. Sunbeam? Zigzag? he wonders. He doesn't see them, but they're survivors. No matter how bad thigns get, they've been through worse. That doesn't help me, though, Needlenose hisses inwardly. The battlefield is below and he now has his choice of targets. Unfortunately his only remaining weapons are his proton missiles. "Primus Straxus Excelsius I hope my fuel line is intact," he mutters as he lines up a shot on the Autobot ringleader of this whole affair. From under his left wing, a missile drops down and speeds towards Repugnus, leaving a corkscrew smoke trail behind it. Robots in disguise! Needlenose transforms into his F-16XL Jet Fighter mode! Combat: F-16XL Jet Fighter strikes Bug Creature with his Proton Missiles attack! Wasn't much in the battery, least not that he could grab in six seconds. Octane unhooks himself and stands up... just in time to be attacked by a gimmick "OHPRIMUSWHAT?!" he all but shrieks when a wash of sparks leap towards him and... bounce off of his DEFLECTO SHIELD! I love you, Deflecto Shield. Brushing himself off after that bit of anticlimactic horror, Octane's audials are greeted by the drum solo of Blurr's fistacular marathon. Only when Blurr reaches Octane, he doesn't even get to punch the Defelcto Shield... Instead, Clonk! Buckler! Whipping out his tailfin buckler, Octane snaps the smaller shield open and thrusts it into Blurr's path, intercepting the fist soundly. "Hah, like that? TWo shields! How many do you have, Sonic? One? Oh did I get your name wrong? I must have confused you with aniother stupid, pointless character who's only saving grace and point of relevence is speed!" "Hah, hah... told him" Octane congratulates himself before he goes traipsing on, quickly arriving to reinforce Octane, hunkering down beside the baseformer and whipping out... the nozzle! "Here you gfo pal, stay put, I'mma need your guns in a second." he chatters to Onslaught as he tops him off. Combat: Octane refuels Battlestation 's energon reserves. At this rate, the only thing Grapple is going to be known for is screaming like a little girl. Which he does, once more, as a giant pillbug tries to eat his feet. "Get off get off!" He doesn't really know how far off Grimlock threw them both, but he needed to get FREE before he could get back to them. But wait! He knows how to use his missiles now! So he aims, despite that Juggernaut was trying to EAT him, to shoot once more...! Combat: Grapple strikes Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug with his Wrist Socket Rocket attack! "Huh." Grimlock stares after Juggernaut -and- Grapple as they sail away. "That no work how me Grimlock planned." But, before he can muse on the tactical situation any longer, Onslaught starts shelling everyone! Grimlock weathers the bombardment with a growl- and then he's storming forward, transforming to his heavier armored dinosaur mode to better hold up against the explosions! Grimlock crosses the battlefield, and then raises one clawed foot up, attempting to -STOMP!- upon Onslaught's chassis, like the opening scene from a Kaiju movie. "Raaargh!" With a grunt and a growl, Grimlock changes into a robot T-rex! Watch out. Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Battlestation with his Dino Crush attack! -5 Blades says, "Autobots, filter out optical wavelength >numbers<" The solar power station is a mess right now. Most of the collectors are destroyed, and there's a bunch of foul-mouthed Autobot hooligans running around smashing everything. One of the Decepticon guards stationed here looks like he was skinned alive and left in the sun. Oh, situation changed--Onslaught just blew the hell out of everything. That did it--just about everything is totaled, including many of the thug bots. Some of them survive, others are crippled and dragging themselves along. A few of them miraculously escape uninjured and go to help their mates up. Repugnus himself was caught in the blast, too, emerging from the lip of the blast crater with a claw, which he sinks into the ground to pull himself up. "Nnnh... not that easy, Onslaught," he grunts, pulling himself out. And while the battlestation sits immobile, Repugnus throws himself at Onslaught, trying to stab his claws into it! "I'm not done yet! I haven't shown you TRUE pain! Hahaha!" Blades is set on fire by Repugnus, which slows the Protectobot down further. He sputters, "What the slag, Repugnus!?" though Blades is really not shocked. To be honest, it probably should have happened sooner. Still, burning shrapnel in Repugnus's office at the next convenient time. He finds himself underneath needlenose, with the Decepticon threatening to shove his hand down Blades's throat, so Blades does the logical thing and tries to make the situation as awkward as possible for all involved. He waggles his optical ridges, and he insists, "Frankly, I don't think you have what it take to shove your hand down my throat!" However, he is granted a temporarly reprieve when Needlenose decides to explode Repugnus instead. Sadly, the jet being in the air makes stabbing the jet a much more difficult prospect. So Blades looks left. He looks right. He pulls out the most cowardly of weapons and shines a flashlight at each of the Decepticons after warning the Autobots to filter the wavelength. Combat: Bug Creature strikes Battlestation with his Shearing Claws attack! Combat: Blades strikes F-16XL Jet Fighter with his Photon Pistol Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected F-16XL Jet Fighter 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Blades strikes Battlestation with his Photon Pistol Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Battlestation 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Combat: Battlestation falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Blades strikes Octane with his Photon Pistol Area attack! Combat: Octane's forcefield absorbs Blades's attack. Combat: Blades strikes Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug with his Photon Pistol Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily affected Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug 's Accuracy. (Blinded) Blades says, "...holy Matrix, motherboard of Prime." Bug Creature , of course, takes a missile right to the back just after slicing into Onslaught. "Hurrghhfkkk--" he grunts out, fuel leaking from his wounds. Repugnus says, "Onslaught's down! FINISH HIM OFF! KILL HIM! DO IT NOW!" Blurr hardly even notices that Octane has deflected his punch. He's too busy punching everyone at once. Especially since he manages to hit everyone BUT Octane. Yeah, he's pretty cocky about it. "Don't worry Octane, I'll be back for you!" And sure enough, he is, transforming as he runs toward the Decepticon finishes refueling Onslaught, even though that ends up being futile since the Combaticon leader is ultimately knocked into stasis by Blades. BOOOOOOM. Another sonic boom from the hovercar straight at Octane! Get those slagging shields down already! In a flurry of moving parts, Blurr folds down into a pale blue-colored supersonic hovercar. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar misses Octane with his Sonic Boom attack! The battlestation's walls are torn wide open by Grimlock and Repugnus, forcing Onslaught to starts his transformation into his robot mode. However Blades shoots his photon pistol at the worst possible moment. The energy beam strikes the combaticon's internal system and he falls back on the ground. The lights are out. From his previous mode, Onslaught unfolds into his robot mode. Blades says, "I think... I just shot Onslaught down... with my flashlight." Blurr says, "Good work, Blades!" Repugnus says proudly, "You couldn't have done it without me." Grimlock says, "Me Grimlock did hard part!" Velum says, "They don't make Cons like they used to, it seems." Blurr says, "Pfff, no kidding on that." Blades says, "Eh, Onslaught is rubbish, anyway." Octane was just about to do something amazing with that laser battery. He was going to just eviscerate Blurr, but nooo. Someone, everyone has to go and shoot Octane up! You horrible people. How do you sleep at night? His Deflecto Shield deflects Blades' photonic blasts, leaving him all but unharmed by the encounter and free to scoop up Onslaught. "Who's useless now, you slagging piece of-" he utters into the onconcious 'con's audial as he hefts the mech up, slinging his arm over Octane's shoulders. He halts when he hears the rush of movement that is Blurr... and uses Onslaught like a shield! Debris, scrap, and the turbulent wake all absorbed by the battered Mech... Octane smiles like the dickens, the absolute dickens. Lifting off with a sprining leap, Octane jets upwards, out of the blast range! F-16XL Jet Fighter , despite being covered with flames that don't look like they're going to go out anytime soon, is shockingly still flying straight. The Decepticon Targetmaster's engine is at maximum as he lets his missile fly towards Repugnus. Sadly the Monsterbot is still up, and Blades is able to brighten the entire area with a light show that fries Needlenose's optical circuits. "Hey! We said 'no' to blinding, remember?!" Needlenose shouts out, already knowing how futile it is. Checking his radar since his optics are fragged, he sees numerous red dots that are probably Autobots and not fellow Decepticons. They're on the ground, anyway, and that's good enough for him. Lining up the shot on the mech he's pretty sure is Blades, Needlenose lets loose with his second proton missile. The missile's thruster ignites, blasting it forward towards its target. Looks like I might owe Onslaught an apology, Needlenose thinks. Turns out Blades was still around after all. The Decepticon's systems are starting to go fuzzy as the flames continue to spread across the F-16, and the first signs of his engine giving out can be seen. Combat: F-16XL Jet Fighter sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: F-16XL Jet Fighter strikes Blades with his Proton Missiles attack! Interrupted in his meal, Juggernaut is instead fed ANOTHER wrist rocket. Zooming right into his gaping maw, the Insecticon audibly *gulps*.. a moment later his mid-section burns bright and some smoke trails from his mouth. "Little heavy on the magnesium." he chuckles, trying to internalize the damage and begin the automated recovery systems. Shying back, suddenly the Insecticon is blinded by SCIENCE.. no, just a flashlight. Seemingly a powerful one, as Onslaught falls under the barrage from Blades. Those Protectobots and their toys, where do they get them?? Rolling up into a ball, Juggernaut propels himself forward.. one target after another, bounding around to smash into one; then bounce off at the next. Combat: Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug strikes Grapple with his Pinball Wizard Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Grapple's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug strikes Robot T-Rex! with his Pinball Wizard Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Robot T-Rex! 's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug misses Cybertronian Hovercar with his Pinball Wizard Area attack! Combat: Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug (Juggernaut) used "Pinball Wizard": A Level 4 AREA-MELEE attack. Combat: Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug strikes Blades with his Pinball Wizard Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Blades's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Blades falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug strikes Bug Creature with his Pinball Wizard Area attack! Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Bug Creature 's Agility. (Crippled) Combat: Bug Creature falls to the ground, unconscious. Blades's radio blips off. Repugnus's radio does as well Grapple says, "...This isn't going very well." Blurr says, "You got the solar cells right?" Grapple says, "I don't entirely know where I AM." After barking orders over the radio, Fusillade whips her airframe in a steep bank to line up on the ruins of the Charr energy station. Too late for its salvation, but not for vengeance. Even as other Deceptions begin scattering to the air, she hugs the deck, glossy white belly scudding over the shattered collector assemblies, craters, and dismembered Cybertronians to savage the Autobot ranks. "You will pay dearly for this victory, Autobots! Not later, but NOW! There won't be anything left to return to Iacon! She booms past, the world disappearing into the racket of her engines and the concussion of detonations. The bomber dumps out a considerable portion of her stores. Dumb bombs, 500 pounds of explosive just raining down and indiscriminatelt hitting everything. Napalm of questionable quality acquired from Boomslang. Anti-personnel cluster bomb units, the fragmented munitions hovering like fireflies before scattering themselves in shrapnel. Grimlock says, "Uuuuh. There am those loud jerk guys from brig, has bunch of stuff?" Combat: Space Going B-1R Lancer sets her defense level to Fearless. Combat: Space Going B-1R Lancer strikes Cybertronian Hovercar with her All The Bombs Area attack! Combat: Space Going B-1R Lancer (Fusillade) used "Bombs": A Level 6 AREA-RANGED attack. Combat: Space Going B-1R Lancer's attack has damaged your Accuracy! Combat: Space Going B-1R Lancer strikes Grapple with her All The Bombs Area attack! Combat: Grapple falls to the ground, unconscious. Combat: Space Going B-1R Lancer strikes Robot T-Rex! with her All The Bombs Area attack! Combat: Space Going B-1R Lancer strikes Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug with her All The Bombs Area attack! Blades's jaw drops. It falls off his face and ends up in the sands of Charr. he is just that stunned by the idea that his awful cowardly photon pistol has accomlished anything remotely useful. Dropping Onslaught? That is a dream come true! The one of Needlenose's photon missiles reams Blades into the dirt and sends him sprawling in the shape of a sand-devil. He makes a 'tthhhbbt' noise. Karma is a glitch. Correction: karma is an Insecticon pinball wizard playing Katamari Damacy. Having just experienced one of the best things ever, Blades goes out like a light. Poor, poor Grapple. There was a brief moment where he felt hope. He managed to shoot his second missile ever fired right on target! ... And then he got run over. But he was still alive, and now he couldn't see any Decepticons at all. That was good, right? It lasted all of two minutes. He manages to crawl all of two feet before he hears an odd whistling sound. Looks up. "You have GOT to be kidd --" BOOM. Grapple blips out. The Insecticon pinball bounces off of Blades and right into Repugnus, who had been in mid-leap at Onslaught even while Octane tried to carry him away. The Insecticon catches him in the lower legs, snapping them into directions they don't normally bend in, and sending the Monsterbot flipping end over end until he crashes onto his head, optics dim. As for the Thuggobots, the mass devastation the Decepticons wrought upon them--Onslaught's bombardment, Juggernaut bowling them over, Fusillade bombing the survivors--has left very of them still standing. And worse yet, the Decepticons have finally gotten reinforcements here in the form of a pack of Sweeps, which dart down from the skies, transform, and fire down at the Autobots. "Sweeepssss, attaaack!" one of them cries unnecessarily. Blurr is almost plowed over a pillbug. Almost. But he jumps out of the way just in time. However, those bombs are harder to evade, especially since he just managed to avoid Juggernaut. In fact, a piece of flying debris nails him RIGHT in the midsection, sending him flying. "Ungh..." he grunts, recovering as quickly as he can. Though the damage was quite signficant, he hadn't been injured at all prior to this, so he recovers quite quickly. "Wow...someone finally hit me, for ONCE in their pathetic Decepti-scum lives!" he laughs. And sets his sights on Insecticon thing that tried to plow into him. *Dink!* Juggernaut's pinball gets Grimlock's attention- "Wha?" But then: *KABOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!* Explosives detonate all around (and ON) Grimlock- yet the dinobot still stands! He roars his defiance as the smoke clears, and storms forwards. "Grrh! Me Grimlock say us Autobots REALLY fight, now!" And he makes it a few more steps before he stumbles over Repugnus' batterered body. "Huh?" he glances downwards, and then notes an orange lump from the corner of his eye...and then Blades, not too far from him. And, at seeing this, Grimlock's shoulders slump, just a little. "Grrh. Me Grimlock guess me be re-sponsible one." He mutters. "Blurr!" He says, sighting in on one of the few bots still standing. "Get them guys-" he points at a few more Thuggobots in varying states of repair, "to get THEM guys-" he points to the downed Architect and Psychopaths, "-into shuttle!" This done, Grimlock turns his head and spews flame at Fusillade's tailfin in retribution! Combat: Robot T-Rex! sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Robot T-Rex! strikes Space Going B-1R Lancer with his Fire Breath attack! Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar strikes Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug with his Sonic Boom attack! Octane drifts over the blast sight, smiling to himself. Primus that was a sweet sight! Adjusting onslaught, Octane puts the purrs in, his body shifting and contorting, seeming to consume Onslaught as he become a massive jetliner! His engines put a bit more thunder in the air as he powers away, fleeing to get the Combaticon commander to safety... and nothing more! When the Sweeps FINALLY arrive to give Fusillade some air support, Juggernaut breathes a sigh of relief.. his energon stores are getting increasingly lower and lower. Crawling back to find some cover so the disposable warriors can mop this mess up, the Insecticon is sideswiped by Blurr! The shot sends him rolling down another hill, slamming into a stack of sheet metal and ricocheting off. Combat: Octane's forcefield protecting himself vanishes. Combat: Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Gargantuan Robotic Pillbug begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Hovercar , Octane, Robot T-Rex! , Space Going B-1R Lancer, and F-16XL Jet Fighter "Oh thank you," Needlenose wheezes as he sees the cavalry come in. Both Fusillade and the swarm of Sweeps are a sight for sore (and on fire) optics, and the F-16 tilts his wings and streaks back towards Decepticon HQ. He knows Grimlock and more Autobots are back there, but Needlenose isn't in good enough shape to realistically continue the fight. As far as he's concerned, he held out until the relief force could get here and that's good enough for him. Octane transforms into his Boeing KC-46 Tanker mode. Combat: F-16XL Jet Fighter begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Hovercar , Boeing KC-46 Tanker , and Space Going B-1R Lancer Combat: Boeing KC-46 Tanker begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Hovercar and Space Going B-1R Lancer Combat: Space Going B-1R Lancer sets her defense level to Neutral. Combat: Space Going B-1R Lancer strikes Robot T-Rex! with her Nose-Mounted Laser (Laser) attack! "Grimlock! So lovely to see you! Hope you're not planning on sticking around for much longer. Sweeps! Intercept those retreating units! I'll kerp the Dinobot leader occupi-I-YIED!" Fusillade practically shouts as the tremendously hot flames blister her paint, and more importantly, cause some of her joint gaskets to start melting! She fires several high-powered shots from her nose laser at Grimlock. Bug Creature is completely totaled. Not that the Thuggobots are much better off, for the most part. Those who can flee do so, though their numbers are greatly reduced from when they arrived. And they no longer seem to relish this fight--once Punchface sits himself down in the shuttle, his face looks haunted, and with good reason, as he's holding the burnt head of his friend T-Boned in his lap. "...so that's why he called on us. We're the MOST expendable." "Yessss, Executrix!" hisses a Sweep, and they do their best to spray lasers in the general direction of the retreating Autobots. A few more Thuggobots don't make it back. Multiple comrades are down, and it would appear that the brutes Repugnus had brought along are having difficulty retrieving them. Okay, more like too busy complaining about why Repugnus brought them here and ignoring his orders to get their fallen allies off of the battlefield and back to base. "Gah! Do I have to do everything myself? Spawn of a glitched diode..." he mutters, even though Grapple appears to be the only one they've forgotten. Ah, poor Grapple. At any rate, the speedster grabs the architect and speeds off back toward the ship that must have brought them here, joining the retreating 'thug-bot' forces. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar sets his defense level to Protected. Combat: Cybertronian Hovercar begins retreating, outrunning all pursuit. "Oh yeah! Well, me Grimlock gonna keep YOU occy-pied!" And, as Fusillade's lasers scorch little burns into his armor, the dinobot tracks her with his optics, opening his mouth for another burst of flame...but then, he suddenly changes his aim, flaming at a passing Sweep instead, warding him off before he can make another strafing run on a 'bot shuttle. "Grrr! Stupid Repugnus! Make me Grimlock be all repsonsible for Autobots not dying!" he grumbles, and then Grimlock makes his own lumbering retreat, going so far as to grab a greviously wounded Thuggobot to drag what's left of him back to the shuttle, occasionally firing at a sweep or seeker that may get too close! Combat: Robot T-Rex! begins retreating, leaving himself vulnerable to parting shots from Cybertronian Hovercar , Boeing KC-46 Tanker , Space Going B-1R Lancer, and F-16XL Jet Fighter The sleek bomber rears up, wings collapsing onto hips even as the rear fuselage splits to form arms. The horizontal stabilizer slides up, the forward fuselage folds up accordian style, and Fusillade hops up on thrustered feet. Fusillade sets down on double-thrustered heels, frowning deeply and shaking her head. "Pitt, what a mess. Someone get over here and fill me in on what happened!" Whether she gets the whole story or not remains to be seen. Uncategorized Decepticon Comm Chatter Onslaught says, "Needlenose. I don't want to see any Autobot in the sky. Make sure to keep them grounded." Needlenose says, "You got it." Octane says, "Ohprimus,savemeI'mimportant!" Onslaught says, "Octane? Great Primus, why not one of the useful triplechangers?" Octane says, "Hey, slag you! I'm useful!" Onslaught says, "Prove it and bring me an Autobot's head." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Hahahaha, let us all ridicule Octane!" Octane says, "Just you wait, all of you! Some day you'll be running on E and you'll look to me, your tanks empty and eyes dim. Save us you'll say and I'll look down and whisper, No." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Why would -anyone- operate by letter?" Onslaught says, "you won't live long enough to see that day if we don't beat back the Autobots. Do you have any idea what Repugnus will do to you if they win?" Impudent Fool Backfire says, "And of all the infernal letters, why did you pick 'E'?" Octane says, "Arrrgh! SHUTUP, I'M SHOOTING SOMETHING NOW!" Needlenose says, "These guys are all nuts! What happened to the guys like Bumblebee and Hoist?" Octane says, "Didn't we kill 'em?" Needlenose says, "No Bumblebee's still alive. If he were dead there'd be a song about it." Octane says, "Right, I can never keep track of the little guys." Needlenose says, "Something catchy with a bit of a rock opera flair. Think of a Queen anthem." Octane says, "Hah, yeah, Queen would fit him." Needlenose says, "Bumblebee's the yellow one." Octane says, "I swear to any horrible, nightmareish, dark god listening that I will tank up the next 'Con that puts a hole in Blurr!" Scorn says, "Good luck. That mech is such a little pest." Octane says, "And me without a slaggin fly-strip!" The Juggernaut says, "Get off your aft and help put these Autobots in line, Scorn!" Scorn says, "Oh Juggernaut, you know I would, but I'm a bit busy trying to keep an eye on a certain bug so I don't end up with a cannoning or something." The Juggernaut says, "Excuses, excuses." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Windshear, you owe me fifteen thousand credits." Scorn hisses a little, "Just do your job properly. Then you won't have to call on me." Windshear says, "slowly responds sounding completely higher then a kit. What the smeg are they putting in his energon right no while they repair (or is that rebuild) him? "Doo.... not -- to neither one of you."" Windshear hears another voice then. "Ok to all three of you." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Three? I defended you admirably in the court of law, you owe me monies." Needlenose says, "ARGH! Blast it, Onslaught!!" Windshear says, "Yea Onslaught, you didnt defend me."" Onslaught says, "Such is the prize of failure." Needlenose says, "Price of... the hell are you talking about? I was kicking Bla- of all th- I mean I'm gonna- when I get repa-... ARGH!" Windshear mmms, "I think someone said you failed, Backfire -- I mean shefire." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "No, I rightfully proved that it wasn't your fault alone.. REMEMBER??" Windshear starts to say something then pauses as thres a loud metal on metal hammering sound in the background. "My leg... its going away and it didnt take me with it." he mumbles. Impudent Fool Backfire says, "You make even less sense than me." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "And I thought that was impossible." Windshear laughs, "I... nothings impossible, Backfire. I seriously owe you how much?!" Onslaught says, "Grimlock is here. We're beaten. Cause maximum damage and then retreat." Windshear gasps. "Grimlock took my leg." Fusillade says, "Oh, that's almost like a building!" Windshear says, "Ive fought Grimlock before a few times.. he hurts..."" Onslaught says, "Fusillade? You're here? Good. Bomb the hell out of them." Fusillade says, "Trust me, folks, you won't want to be anywhere the big bosses if we lose this spot. Get in the air, 'cause y'all won't wanna be on the ground in a few astroseconds!" Needlenose says, "I'm in the air now just in case, oh I don't know, someone wants to saturate the entire area with bombs or something." Needlenose says, "Or something bomb related." Needlenose says, "Like missiles." Needlenose says, "Any kind of missiles, really." Onslaught remains silent. Needlenose says, "Incendiary missiles..." Fusillade says, "Nooooo, really?" Needlenose says, "Armour piercing missiles..." Needlenose says, "Um, I don't know, /proton/ missiles..." Octane says, "Ohslag, ohslag, ohslag! Onslaught, forget what I said!" Fusillade says, "Oh Primus, my frame isn't THAT wide. Onslaught, get in the air!" Onslaught says, "I'm taking off." Fusillade says, "And... there's not much left, is there? Nnnfh, they're going to have all of your heads!" Fusillade says, "Ggggh. Octane, collect Onslaught, pronto!" Octane says, "Yes Ma'am!" Needlenose says, "Whew, am I ever glad you're here, Executrix." Sweep Scratch says, "This is Scraaatch! The Sweeps will be there shortly to reinforce! Once again the Sweeps prove the fastest, most competent, and--wait, is someone already there ahead of us? Impossible!" Needlenose says, "Wow, I'm actually glad to see the Sweeps also! Man, who'd have thunk it?" Fusillade says, "Time's a-ticking. They are going to /pay/!" Windshear says, "Have them pay Backfire while they are at it." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "No, you owe me." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "If not in credits, then you'll have to repay me with a favor." Windshear says, "Crredits or favor -- depends on the favor. What did you have in mind?"" Impudent Fool Backfire says, "I reserve the right to call in a favor in the immediate future." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "AKA I don't know right now." Windshear mmms, "Then it will be credits." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "No, I rescind my credit offer." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Just know, that one day.. I shall call upon you." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "And you will have to answer the call." Impudent Fool Backfire says, "Even if it's a collect call." Windshear says, "Dont call on me to do anything.. unnatural, mech."" Octane says, "Don't think he'd ask you to do anything more unnatural than what you see in a mirror." Decepticon Message: 2/147 Posted Author AAR: Charr Raid Sun Feb 17 Octane ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Octane sits before a Report-O-Matic in one of the Charr repair bays. You can tell it's from Charr because the picture quality is /horrible/! "This is Octane reporting on the Autobot raid on a solar energy complex on Charr." He starts off plainly. "I was onsight when they attacked, Repugnus leading a troop of Autobot scoundrels and other losers. They rolled through the stationed troops like they didn't even have names, killed most of them, stripped one mech's armor and took his sunglasses, left him to fry in the UV. I held my own but they collapsed a entire structure on me, pinning me until reinforcements arrived in the form of Onslaught and Needlenose." "The battle was fully engaged, Onslaught targeting Repugnus, Needlenose attacking Blades, myself locked with Blurr. This left their goonn Squad and Grapple to rampage through the solar harvest fields. The fighting eventually got loud enough to wake up Juggernaught who joined the fray. Things escalated from there with Grimlock arriving via a one-mech shuttle. Eventually Onslaught succumbed to focused fire from three of the Autobots, forcing me to disengage and pull him out of the combat zone. This left Juggernaught, Needlenose, and the newly arrived Executrix Fusillade to contend with the remaining forces. Juggernaught wrecked the playing field, downing Repugnus, Blades, and several Thuggabots. This left The Executrix to pick up the spare, her full scale bombardment decimating the remaining forces, including Grapple." "Stitch.. Scratch... some bunch of Sweeps lead by another Sweep came in to clean up the mess and send the rest running. The harvesting facility is a full-loss. What little the 'Bots didn't wreck, we lost as collateral damage during the battle." "Octane, Out." Autobot Message: 3/118 Posted Author Charr Solar Station Mon Feb 18 Blurr ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A text-only report. The attack on the Charr solar station was a success. Onslaught, Octane, and Needlenose were on-site at the time of the offensive, with Juggernaut and Fusillade arriving later with Sweep reinforcements. However, these reinforcements were too late to save the facility. It was destroyed. Outbound tipped us off about this, though--so the outcome was expected. I would wager that solar collector was of little or no consequence to the 'Cons. Let's just hope this has begun to sway him into thinking that his plan is working; that we're starting to trust him. That'll be about it. Oh....and Grapple did excellently, despite himself. End transmission. =